Oh, I noticed an interesting side effect of the iPod and the iTunes music store today while holding for a support rep prior to going in: the music that was played on hold was the same pablum that gets pushed via promo agreements on the iTunes store. It was enough to make me want to rip my fucking ears off.

Once upon a time, the hold music was generic Silicon Valley technoschmutz, no vocals to allow you to personalize your feelings of violation and hatred as you listen to some ex-American Idol contestant promulgate idiotic, preadolescent fantasies about fate and relationships and rainbows and stormy skies. And ponies.

This new promo program (sources tell is it was code-named “Down Your Throat”) raises customer irritation to new heights. By the time the support person came on I wanted to kill them. This change must increase phone rage.

You know what Apple should do? When you get into the hold queue, they should give you a three-part choice of music programming. I bet they’d improve their numbers and at the same time that recent troubling decline in support-case closures would be nipped in the bud.

It’s not like it’s hard to program for my demographic. Some Ry Cooder, a little Tom Waits – basically anything you can sleep through that at the same time has pretensions of asking you to think is fine with me.